Deals with Devils and Other Practical Adventuring Tips
by ValidDreams
Summary: A brief charname and Dorn interaction, separate from my Fallen story. It takes place just after clearing the Nashkel mines. I was always struck by how practical Dorn was as an "evil" character, but I never knew what to do with him writing wise.


Eilonna didn't accept the blackguard's offer because she believed she could somehow trick or control him. She had had her front row seat to what happened to the kind of people who fooled themselves into thinking that. That wasn't to say that she had accepted out of fear either because she didn't necessarily _fear_ Dorn. She knew what fear looked like. Fear was the giant in spiked plate forcing Gorion to his knees even as her father's enchantment took hold of her mind and led her into the brambles of the forest.

Dorn hadn't been forthright with much, but he had been was upfront with his motives. He had offered protection in exchange for her services—those of a pretty and approachable human girl. Someone who could extract information from people that would run at the sight of him.

Jaheira wasn't making many bones about how much she disapproved and it wasn't hard to guess Imoen's feelings on the matter either. If anything Khalid's worried, hangdog looks were a more effective guilt trip than even the druid's stern scowls, but Eilonna was steadfast in this path.

Because for the first time since leaving Candlekeep, with a blackguard at her back no less, she felt _safe_. They hadn't been pestered by a single bandit on their return from the mines and the hobgoblins that had rushed at them from the underbrush had fled in terror at the sight of Dorn charging them.

He was as effective as an entire contingent of the Iron Fist. Probably more-so.

Still, when they returned to Nashkel, her heart jumped and stopped at the sight of the man approaching her. Imoen had already gone off to the inn and she had gone ahead to the market while Jaheira and Khalid finished their business with the mayor. The gods only knew where Dorn had gone and she was suddenly by herself and felt very, _very_ exposed.

On an admittedly very stupid instinct to just _run_ , she picked a direction and went, hoping that he had lost sight of her as she ducked behind a line of guards. However, she quickly found herself corralled by a dead end between the cemetery wall and the storehouse. Before she could formulate an escape from there—climbing had become something of a pastime with so many shelves and convenient handholds available around Candlekeep's ancient walls and spires—the man rounded the corner too and smiled at her.

"Eilonna, that you, love? A sight for sore eyes, you are."

Immediately, she began backpedaling, trying to put distance between herself and the man as she fumbled for the blade at her hip. Her crossbow wouldn't do her any good at this kind of range and what else could she do? _Lute_ him to death? "Just leave me _alone_ ," she said. "I don't have anything—I don't even know what you people want!"

"Aw, bless you, lamb," the man said with a bit of a pout. "It isn't personal. It's just that _bounty_. It'll keep a sod like me fed for a year. Now, hold still. Nimbul will make it—"

He didn't get to finish, because it was exactly then that Dorn ran him through. The hunter flinched bodily, raising a hand slowly to touch the blade protruding from his chest with wide, disbelievingly eyes. Then the half-orc gave his sword an ugly twist and withdrew it.

Bile tickled the back of Eilonna's throat and she resolved not to look at the body as Dorn cast it aside like a bit of chaff, ignoring the blood that washed over his feet. Really, it was probably just a coincidence that saving her life had gotten in the way of his sport, but even so she didn't think she'd ever be so happy to see an abyssal servant again.

"This does not happen often, I hope," he sniffed at her, bored and inconvenienced

"More than I'd like of late," Eilonna answered. "I… thank you. I don't do much knife-fighting. I wasn't, um, really sure how that was going to go."

"Probably very badly," Dorn said. He offered her a hand and when she accepted, he clasped the other around her middle and lifted her bodily over the gore strewn at his feet and set her down neatly on the other side. It was an unexpected gesture, but she was almost certain it was rooted in the practicality of not soaking her boots too, which were already in quite the state after the mines. "We will remedy that. First, explain to me about this bounty."

She bristled at the thought. The last thing she needed was for Dorn to turn on her, because _he_ was competent and might actually succeed.

A finger was suddenly under her chin, large and mailed and not especially gentle as it forced her face upward so that she looked the half-orc in the eyes. "I am _not_ a traitor," he growled.

 _Duly noted._

Eilonna eased his hand away from her, squeezing it to convey that she had gotten his point, no hard feelings, don't spear me, and offered a nervous smile. "Right, um, I forgot to mention that, I guess."

"Forgot?" he scoffed.

" _Well_ , I might have deliberately left it unsaid." She gave him a pointed look. "If you can keep secrets, so can I."

" _Mine_ are not quite so dangerous."

Eilonna raised two fingers to pinch her brow. "Here, let me consult _my_ Abyssal master on that…"

He snorted and it _might_ have been amusement that time, but again a very deliberate and not particularly gentle hand then shoved her forward away from him. "On then, to the inn. You look tired."


End file.
